Christening the New Ship - Adventure - R - DP - Extreme

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The Eleventh Division had witnessed many foes since its very inception. That much, nobody could deny, for to do so was simply its main goal. For thousands of years, it went to battle against all who threatened the Living World and Soul Society alike, and it persevered every single time it did. It did not matter whether it was able to do so because its Captain was a very powerful individual or if the sum of every single officer's strength was able to carry them on its own, because if the people of the Eleventh Division could not crush the enemies of the heavenly realm, then their whole could not be referred to as the Primary Attack Squad by those who they personally served. But there were times during which the confidence that the entirety of the Eleventh Division shared amongst themselves would slightly falter, times during which they would gaze upon their enemy and think of themselves as something that was perhaps inferior to it. This was unfortunately one of those times.

Prior to their arrival within Moscow, many of the officers who were part of the group Kimiko had formed thought the information they had received to be nothing more than an exaggeration of ridiculous proportions. This opinion was one that had been shared with even a few other officers, namely those from the Tenth Division who were preparing themselves to leave at the time. Each of them could easily believe in an operation conducted by Hollows, Hellions and the Vandenreich, for each of those things were tangible targets that they could easily conjure in their minds. A flying warship the size of a mountain, however? That was something they could not image. They were hardly to blame, of course; really, how could they imagine that? That was the kind of stuff that you would only witness in a few movies and video games produced by the people of the Living World, mere fiction to be ignored in favor of the cruel reality which were the enemies of Humanity. And yet... here they were like the many Russian civilians who stared from below, with their eyes stuck onto the floating fortress like moths attracted to a brilliant flame.

Some immediately lost their faith in themselves once they got a good look at the threat before them. The confidence, the bravado, the sheer and indomitable will that they have forged through countless years of training... All of that was gone in favor of fear, worry, and ultimately, cowardice, and once all of these emotions were able to set into their minds, the questions would soon come too. How could they possibly take a such thing down? How could they even come close to it? How could their meager Zanpakuto, such little swords, could ever hope to even leave but a single scratch upon that mountain's very rock? There were more questions, more and more that kept coming and leaving them weak at their knees. They even reached Kimiko, the Captain who appeared so much larger than life in comparison to everybody else. She couldn't help but feel as though this was most likely going to be one of the most difficult battles they were going to go through. 

 

But even so, the superior officer found the strength to not falter. Her mind had already conjured up the words before she even shouted them. The thing may look impressive in size, and it may prove to be even more impressive in power alone, but in the end, it was a big target all the same. Quite simply, the bigger a target is, the harder it falls once its legs are eliminated. In other words, all they really needed to do was to just get in there, use whatever was causing it to fly like that to bring it elsewhere, and then simply cause it to crash. The immense damage that would be delivered onto it in that moment would most likely render the entire fortress completely inoperable for the foreseeable future, no matter how many engineers the Vandenreich would attempt to throw at its then-carcass. Hell, it would probably remain forever broken and unable to be repaired; after all, such was the price to pay when building machines of war that are greater than life itself.

Fortunately, for now, the words that were expelled from the Captain's throat were enough to bolster the willpower of all who surrounded her. As both an apology for the weakness they had shown then. and as gratitude for bringing them to the usual heights that they should have experienced to begin with, they had made their voices clear in return. The Eleventh Division was going to fight. It was going to come forth before the massive mastodon which was the titanic Quincy warship, slaughter all who dare to challenge the Living World and its protectors, and bring destruction to the ship. It was what they needed to be done for the safety of all beings, and thus, it was going to be done, no matter the costs required in order to achieve it. Some would believe this to be the harrowing cry of men and women who were all prepared to die against a foe that might as well be indomitable. Kimiko, however, believed that this was proof of these people's will to succeed, and that was enough. In the end, that was all that she needed from them.

The people of the Tenth Division would eventually arrive at the scene, closely led by their leader, Celes Shindazu. Kimiko would briefly turn their attention to them once she heard them step forth from the Senkaimon, and she would make sure to do with a smile. She was glad to see that the people of the Eleventh's sister squad looked as ready as ever to provide aid and support to the cause. There was no doubt in her mind that they would most definitely be able to take this threat down together as one. More importantly, however, she was glad to see that Celes was there. Having been aware of her friend's emotional state for some time now, she found it reassuring to see her mentor display her smile, even if it was only but for a brief moment. "Heh, not at all! In fact, it has barely even started yet," the swordswoman made sure to respond to the fist fighter with a bright attitude before she then glanced towards the warship once again. By then, however, she had taken a more serious look once again. "I can't say it'll be easy... But, as long as we stick together, we'll be able to bring this thing down fast!"  

Well, that evidently wouldn't quite be enough. Numbers were nice, of course; in fact, they will most likely need the sheer amount of officers she and her friend have both brought to this battle in order to face the many Vandenreich soldiers who probably awaited them behind the walls of that fortress. However, numbers can only do so much against something that was perhaps a thousand times their sizes combined. That, and numbers didn't matter much if their power couldn't bring them very far onward. Still, it was a start. Simply hearing her soldiers letting out multiple war cries and being overall excited for the battle ahead rather than scared was something that she wanted to make sure would remain until the battle ended. As long as they are all motivated, it won't matter what is being thrown at them: the only thing they will really need is one little opening, and after that, the Vandenreich will be ultimately powerless to stop them all at once.

Considering the sheer amount of spiritual energy released by the flying fortress, Kimiko was unable to detect anything but the forces at her and Celes' command, and the ship itself. With that said, she knew that something this big was most likely going to attract the attention of nearby Hollows. The dark creatures are attracted to reiatsu, after all, and this amount was thus most likely going to cause an army of them to drown Moscow in the following hour. Admittedly, Kimiko hadn't thought about that when she first came here, and now that she had a brief glimpse of the thought, she couldn't help but slightly clench her teeth behind her closed lips. Whatever the Vandenreich had in mind by bringing this damned thing over a capital of the Living World, it most likely did not bode well for the entirety of the Human population here... so add Hollows on top of that, and you end up with something that could threaten the cycle of souls almost instantaneously. In the end, that was probably something the Vandenreich had planned, but it was something that bothered the Captain nonetheless.

It wasn't until a few more minutes passed that, finally, the swordswoman would feel as though something was happening. At first, it didn't seem as though this was the case; in fact, at a glance, she couldn't really understand if the fortress was doing anything or not. However, she couldn't help but feel as though something was going to happen. She could feel that familiar rush blitz past her senses, filling them with an immediate need to react to something, and she could feel every hair on her skin raise up. Why her body was doing this, she couldn't say... at least, not until she found herself turning her attention towards four sigils which had suddenly appeared around the ship. With a surprised expression, she tried to understand what was happening, though by the time each sigil suddenly shot some kind of orb right up towards the cloudy snowy skies above, her entire mind clicked. Those orbs... They were not normal. Those were...

Mortars. 

They were going to bomb the city to kingdom come.

Kimiko wasn't quite sure that this was exactly what was happening here. For all she knew, this could have all just been another showcase of the Vandenreich's might, since so far, the only thing they had really done is prepare the equivalent of a light show. In spite of this, she simply had a feeling that a bombing was exactly what was going to happen in the next few seconds or minute at best; after all, in her mind, to eliminate her enemies with the greatest amount of power with the smallest amount of effort is the coward's greatest dream, and only a coward would build such a great machine. Thus, the Captain's red eyes immediately widened as they attempted to search for some kind of safe zone, an area where she, Celes, and their subordinates would not be annihilated by the incoming artillery. Eventually, they stopped and found what appeared to be the only logical place to go to in order to take cover: the bottom of the warship's base. She did not believe it to be exactly safe, as for all she knew, counter-measures would be taken the moment she and her people would reach it... but it was worth the risk. So, once she finally made her decision, she clenched her teeth, that screamed as loudly as she possibly could:

"ARTILLERY! EVERYONE, UNDER THE SHIP, NOW!" 

Charles, the man who had been remaining by Kimiko's side, was briefly stunned by the loudness of his Captain and wondered for a brief moment where her order had suddenly come from. His reaction wasn't unique either, as many of the officers nearby displayed a similar of expression of shock and bewilderment. However, when they saw the swordswoman turn towards them, give to them a look of utter urgency and then vanish at a speed of 7000 with the aid of Shunpo to get under the ship as quickly as possible, their confusion was immediately replaced by an extreme need to follow their order. They believed her. If they remained here in the open, no matter how high they were from the ground, they were going to die. In so doing, the many men and women of the Eleventh Division - and hopefully, those from the Tenth Division too - would quickly find themselves focusing onto the beneath of the ship, and then vanish as well with the power of Shunpo, albeit at a much lesser speed than Kimiko's. It was only a few seconds after they all began to move towards the ship that the orbs then fell onto the city of Moscow.

No one was quite sure how long it lasted. In the eyes of the Humans below, it lasted less than an instant, and in those of the Shinigami officers above, it was just a bit faster. For Kimiko, however, it lasted longer, and it was enough for her to get a glimpse of the unfolding chaos as she quickly reached for the bottom of the warship. Before anyone below even realized what was happening, practically every part of the Russian capital below that was part of the flying fortress' vicinity - including what appeared to be several political embassies as well as the country's main seat of power, the Kremlin - was caught in a great blast of energy that reduced everything that touched it to nothingness. There was nothing the Humans could have done to anticipate this. The workers who were coming back home to celebrate Christmas barely had the time to reach their families before they were transformed into residual ash. The children who had been waiting to open their gifts on the day after were erased from existence, their souls immediately deleted by the Emperor's power. As for the survivors? They could only stand there, stunned... until they started screaming.

The entire city of Moscow appeared to explode in horror after the bombs landed. Immediately, they tried to flee the scene, causing a terrible cacophony in the streets as many attempted to do so with the aid of a vehicle. At first, those who were trying to get the safety attempted to avoid their brethren, but soon, they stopped caring and simply drove onto the sidewalks to avoid the traffic that was forming in the streets. A few policemen and soldiers would attempt to shoot their ballistic weapons towards the fortress, hoping that they would somehow cause damage to it. Obviously, mere Human guns were not going to do anything to a literal mountain, and so eventually, once their weapons began to run out of ammunition, they joined the fleeing ones. There was nothing they could do to it. Their only choice was to flee and perhaps live another day away from this alien invader, or die a fool's death attempting to fight what might as well be an invincible fortress.

From the side of the Shinigami, Kimiko had attempted to move as fast as she could, and so she was able to reach the bottom of the ship safely enough. So did Charles and a number of her best officers. With that said, many of her soldiers were caught by the orbs as they descended towards the earth, and many others were caught in the blast. In so doing, about a quarter to half of her forces had been instantly annihilated. It was enough to cause Kimiko to look back towards the ground below with widened eyes before she openly clenched her teeth. "Tch! So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" She would find herself huffing before taking a deep breath and looking up towards the bedrock. Then, with a deep frown, she turned towards Charles and immediately ordered him: "Charles, find a way inside this place! If you do, kill everyone on sight! I don't want any survivors! These people have decided to die the moment they began operating this thing!"

The long-haired man would stare at Kimiko with that exhausted look of his, appearing rather regretful about what happened down below. Though he did not really respect the Russian populace, he did not believe what happened in that moment to be fair for them, or really, for anybody else. Thus, once his order was entirely received, he looked up towards the ship, then hummed before closing his eyes. "I'll see what I can do," he would tell the Captain then in a half-groan, before then disappearing with the aid of Shunpo at a greater speed. It was unsure whether or not he was actually going to find any answers during his search, but quite frankly, he was probably the only one who could be granted such a task. The Eleventh Division had a distinct lack of quieter individuals, and amongst even the quietest of the entirety of the Gotei, Charles was easily the most discreet out there. Therefore, he was not going to be detected easily by the Quincy above. Hopefully, at the very least.

And with that, after the man left, silence would quickly come to the group. Now that they were underneath the ship, it was clear that they could now take a breather and further analyze the ship in order to understand what they needed to do. Kimiko alone had begin analyzing its bottom, its rings, as well as a few strange crystals that were embedded in the fortress' rock. Those crystals, in particular, had gathered much of her attention. Something about them just felt off.  Those look way too important to be left alone,  her thoughts would conclude then as her gaze remained fixated upon them. She wasn't quite sure of what exactly they were for, but for these things to glow with such brightness underneath a construct emanating such tremendous energy... Well, that must mean that they are somehow responsible for this ship's power. In other words, and to conclude, they needed to break them.

The only question that remained now was... how?

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu: 6950/7000}
Technique Name: Shunpo (瞬歩, "Flash Steps")

Class: 7

Technique Type: Kidō

Technique Element: None

Technique Reiatsu Cost: 50/step

Technique Description and Effects

A movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. The focal point that determines the basis of this technique is speed. As speed is the main point of the technique, the method is best characterized by how fast one can get from Point A to Point B in the least amount of steps. Training and skill are what determines how fast a user of Shunpo can move. Those of little skill in the technique or those who haven't used it for an extended amount of time would obviously be out of practice, causing those individuals to be considerably slower. This requires the use of more steps to move the same distance and become tired more easily in a shorter amount of time. A single step magnifies speed for that step by ten times. Shunpo uses fifty Reiatsu per step. This one is automatically learned in the academy. All Shinigami know this when created. This technique does not take up a technique slot.

How to use technique

Focus of Reishi around the feet area and launch off into a single blurring step. It is not unlike teleportation in appearance, but it is simply extremely fast movement. It is often used to gain an edge in a single moment of combat or to dodge incoming attacks.

[Celes Castellanos]

Having arrived at the scene, Celes was able to bear witness to the marvel of engineering that the Vandenreich had created. After all, the massive fortress towered above each and every one of them. However, this alone did not deter the Captain of the Tenth. There were countless historical accounts of castles and forts alike being sieged. Every structure had its weaknesses and it was just a matter of time until such weaknesses could be exploited. With that said, Celes took the time to scan the fortress with her eyes.

Needless to say, it had far too many details to identify specifics even with Celes' sharp eyesight. The ominous dark castle seemed almost frozen over. Massive towers stretched far into the sky and from the angle she was looking at, Celes could see two additional tower-like structures which almost seemed to be linked by chains. The most notable feature of the castle, not including its size, were several differently-colored crystals that floated underneath the towering structure. "Huh... Those don't seem merely for decoration..."

As the girl continued to muse to herself, the castle hummed with energy. She had taken note of it upon her arrival, but now the Captain actually afforded it a closer look. She closed her eyes and tried to isolate the castle's energy signature. In that moment, even with her weak capacity to sense energy, Celes felt herself become flooded by the overwhelming presence. A cold, icy-blue reiatsu seemed to grip her and she visibly shivered. Almost falling to her knees, an officer lunged forward to catch her. "Captain Celes! Are you okay?" Nadia asked with genuine concern.

The lime-haired Shinigami perspired with labored gasps. She turned her head to look at Nadia for a brief moment before gazing back up at Nifelheim. "Y-yeah, I was just caught off guard...", she spoke through chattering teeth. "My capacity to sense energy leaves much to be desired, but this presence is unlike anything I've ever felt." She did her best to compose herself, lifting out of Nadia's gentle grasp.

Unfortunately, even with this scare, it seemed that the worst was yet to come. The fortress continued to hum with boundless energy as sigils appeared around the castle. Releasing orbs of reiatsu, they split and proceeded to rocket into the sky above. Celes had fought many different types of opponents over the decades. Each one had unique abilities and through those experiences, Celes had learned a thing or two about certain behaviors of reiatsu. An old human saying came to her mind. "Whatever goes up, must come down." Celes' eyes widened as she realized its purpose. "Mortars?!"

Amidst her surprise, one voice rose above the crowd. It was Kimiko's. "ARTILLERY! EVERYONE, UNDER THE SHIP, NOW!" She was right, of course. Without a second though, Celes looked at her Division and ordered, "Everybody fall in!" As countless Shinigami among the Eleventh disappeared from sight, the Tenth would follow suit. With a Shunpo, they each rocketed towards the underside of Nifelheim to seek cover as the orbs split and rained hell upon them. Many of them appeared to find cover, but not everyone was so lucky.

Those that were simply too slow or merely didn't pay attention would find themselves under the hail of volatile reiatsu. A dozen or so Shinigami of the Tenth were caught out. Any part of them, no matter how small, that touched the falling rain of reiatsu would find themselves consumed in an obliterating explosion. Some of them barely had time to scream as their very soul was eradicated from existence by Quincy reiatsu. It was an awful sight for all those who had to bear witness. However, this was only the beginning.

The streaks of light that swiftly descended toward the ground consumed Moscow. Buildings and people alike were swiftly eradicated by the merciless barrage. Celes watched in horror. Slowly, but surely, the city was marred by craters and destruction. Was such cruelty necessary? Was such collateral worth potentially eliminating the Shinigami who had arrived at the scene? She did not know their motive for causing this level of destruction, but the reason didn't really matter. Only one thing really crossed Celes' mind, consuming her attention. "Was Hiyori involved in this massacre?"

The Quincy woman who had sought out Celes personally. If what she had told her was true... then could she really be responsible for all of this? Her thoughts were briefly interrupted by the voice of her student. "Charles, find a way inside this place! If you do, kill everyone on sight! I don't want any survivors! These people have decided to die the moment they began operating this thing!" In response to this, the Captain's eyes darkened. Celes did not kill unless absolutely necessary. It was true that this act by the Vandenreich demanded retribution, but... could she really do it? Could she harm... her?

Shaken from her stupor once more, Celes heard another voice call out to her. "Captain! Captain Celes. What should we do?!" Snapping out of it, the Shinigami stared at her subordinate with glassy eyes. "I-" She paused for a moment and gritted her teeth. She looked at her expecting forces and shook her head. "Viola. Nadia. I want you both to accompany Charles! Cover him and help him find a way in. We need to breach this thing!" Both of them, nodded and roared, "Yes, Captain Celes!" As the pair vanished with a Shunpo, Celes stared up at the underside of Nifelheim. "Hiyori...", she muttered to herself barely above a whisper.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}
Celes' Reiatsu: 3950/4000

-50 for Shunpo

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shunpo}Technique Name: Shunpo (Flash Steps)

Class: 7

Technique Type: Kidō

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects: A movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. The focal point that determines the basis of this technique is speed. As speed is the main point of the technique, the method is best characterized by how fast one can get from Point A to Point B in the least amount of steps. Training and skill are what determines how fast a user of Shunpo can move. Those of little skill in the technique or those who haven't used it for an extended amount of time would obviously be out of practice, causing those individuals to be considerably slower. This requires the use of more steps to move the same distance and become tired more easily in a shorter amount of time. A single step magnifies speed for that step by ten times. Shunpo uses fifty Reiatsu per step. This one is automatically learned in the academy. All Shinigami know this when created. This technique does not take up a technique slot.

How to use technique: Focus of Reishi around the feet area and launch off into a single blurring step. It is not unlike teleportation in appearance, but it is simply extremely fast movement. It is often used to gain an edge in a single moment of combat or to dodge incoming attacks.

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

Being completely honest, Hiyori spent most of her time almost entirely zoning out over the course of the conversation to follow. She paid little attention to what her superior had to say, though this wasn't by choice; she simply found herself completely unable to focus. Thoughts of what was to come circulated through her head; the legendary battles to be fought aboard the ship if invaders had actually made it on board.

Thoughts of her sister.

Until, Aneirin signaled for others to take a look outside. That was when she saw it; the absolute devastation that followed not moments after. To say that it was horrific would've been an understatement. But, if nothing else? It stoked a fire within the Quincy's heart. An acknowledgement that what was to come was for the good of her people; the good of His Majesty. That this onslaught needed to happen. She smiled. Pumping her fist into the air, and letting out a triumphant shout, Hiyori did what she could to rally the others. This was something to rejoice about!

In time, however, she - and the others - had been dismissed. She nodded her head, walking off for the time being. Her attention went toward exploring the labyrinthine craft. Especially given she had little knowledge on how the ship itself had been constructed, she'd need a bit of time to explore. And thankfully, it seemed that she was going to have that time to utilize.

---

"Hm?" Kaneko spoke, "what might you need, Aneirin?" As she did, throwing up a number of panels around herself, the Quincy girl did what she could to make sure that the outside cameras were focused toward the Shinigami invaders. She wanted to gather every last bit of information on her foes as she could... Absolutely nothing was going to get by her if she could help it.

[Caesar]

Caesar grinned like a boy on Christmas eve after sneaking peeks in the gifts and knowing what he got. His eyes as large as dinner plates and a grin that could clean them as quick, This was the epitome of Vandenreich technology, the might of their ability, A testimony to Der Kaiser Himself and a Love Letter to those that will kneel before the might of God. His arms spread as if to give the idea of this vessel a hug. His eyes flicked from display to display, focusing on every bit of information he could understand. He did his best to understand what had been said about the systems, the defense systems as well as what other information was on display. "Well, I'll be. Der Kaiser is Great. Our Holy Salvation." his fingers traced the monitors that he was closest to and displayed the most destruction. Tracing craters, seeing if it could focus more, give a clearer picture. Allow him to observe as much carnage as he could observe and fully absorb everything that has happened. His breathing steadied, his blinking slowing as he understood one thing. And one thing alone. A city that numbered in the tens of millions lay in ruin as a testimony to both the might of the Vandenreich and the might of Der Kaiser. His eyes closed slowly as he breathed in deep as if to savor every moment.

"Captain Supervisor Aneirin. How soon can we fire this weapon again." His voice even mannered, in reverence to what he had observed. He allowed the moment for an answer, for a response for anything before he opened his eyes and turned them towards the man and gave a slight chuckle. "Sorry. Just seeing all that." his arms spread across what he felt like an ocean of monitors he smiled in slight bliss "Can be a little overwhelming in a raw display of His Glory." he praised as he gestured a prayer to Der Kaiser. His eyes scanned from monitor to monitor, from face to face before it finally landed on Captain Supervisor Castellanos and he could feel it. The curiosity building up the excitement, every soldier under Der Kaiser will always be a Child of Der Kaiser. And like every Child of Der Kaiser they too are able to perform miracles that can be make others sing Praises in His name. With a phrase he hoped he could stop her advance to exploring this castle. Not until he had experienced what This Soldier of Der Kaiser can give. "Now hold on there, Captain Supervisor Castellanos. I promised you we'd get proper introductions" he had called out with a friendly vocal tug his direction.

"Now Im not sure how your Pa taught you to show your mettle. But I learned bloody knuckles aint permanantly killed no one. So how bout it?" Caesar held his fist out in a friendly gesture. An invitation to Spar. His glances slowly made their way towards Aneirin as if to ask the mental question. Where is the closest appropriate area to conduct this? " How bout it Castellanos. We don't bloody each other too much and we got the best medical devices available. At worse we'll probably have to Re attach a limb or you gotta patch up a few bullet holes. But you know what they say 'What dont kill you, will make you stronger"

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Certainly not something that Asmoskon expected to be employed right away, this massive ship was something that the Vandenreich must have been constructing for some time. Now managing to get it out in the human world over one of the most known cities on the planet, why would they now unleash such widespread destruction in such a random way? Asmoskon had these thoughts the moment that he could see the ship channeling its reiatsu, attacks were going to be unleashed any moment now and yet it seemed overkill. The Vandenreich wouldn’t waste something like this on just him even if they knew he was here, which meant that others had to be in the city right now who could be perceived as a threat or problem. He’d have to find them or hope they could keep up with what was about to happen.

The spheres all forming and then descending downwards wasn’t anything that Asmoskon could do to stop although he had to question whether he should try and destroy them before they’d reach him. In the end though he’d wait and hope that they hadn’t yet figured out he was in the city. So he would ultimately begin to flip from one roof to another then jump down to the ground only to start moving once again employing his talent and experience with constant complex movements to avoid the explosions going on throughout the city. While he wasn’t using reiatsu in order to keep his presence hidden he wasn’t going to do nothing, constantly getting closer and closer beneath the giant floating castle.

This attack was something that shouldn’t have been possible, not without a garrison of Quincy all of them above the average. How they’d managed to construct a castle that could employ sigils like these was unnerving. Asmoskon had knowledge and talent from birth and part of that had been passed on to him through his family, sigils especially were something that he knew could push the limitations of one’s power to a new threshold. They’ve devised something new or perhaps repurposed something old. Asmoskon kept sneaking looks and thinking between distributing his weight. This castle couldn’t do what he was watching unless it had been turned essentially into a Quincy.

The way its sigils appeared, the manner it could employ projectiles and hover. Somehow they’d figured out how to make this thing not just pull on the reiatsu of the environment like a typical Quincy. Somehow they’d managed to build a reactor. There was something on board generating its own source of power. The only other explanation would be dozens upon dozens of Quincy all above average channeling their reiatsu throughout the castle constantly. Something like that would dry them out quickly, they wouldn’t employ this ship with such a limited time frame. Thus Asmoskon came to conclusion along with the fact he’d have to find and destroy the generator once inside.

In the end Asmoskon would form his pitch black shortbow holding it in his left hand. Firing off three different arrows made of his black reiatsu kept alive by the crimson within each of them. A Quincy truly that stands opposed to everything of the Vandenreich. Firing off each arrow in a moment then dispelling his bow, Asmoskon hoped to keep his presence as low as possible. The arrows though would tel him a bit more. One sent up to hit the closest sigil, another would curve slightly aimed to hit one of the crystals in the bottom of the ship. Lastly the final arrow would fly up in order to tell him just how strong the barrier was.

Remaining Reiatsu: 3290/3500
Arrows: (Class 1) (3x) {-210}

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Vandenriech Specific:

With the brief ended Aneirin could finally take a breath and just relax. The ship was fine, the weapons systems were fine, as was the energy generation systems. Hell, the barrier didn't have any issues as it stood. And it's unfortunate weaknesses hadn't been realized by anyone yet. Though no doubt it would be found out soon enough if those on his radar survived. The hollows had all but been annihilated. The hellions returned or otherwise deleted from existence. The human populace, vaporized so long as it was within the artillery's radius. But the shinigami? Now that was a different story. A number had survived. More than he'd expected at that. Far too many. Given they had an entire division at their disposal it looked like. The numbers looked like it was around a third given there were two squads and only one took significant harm. Aneirin's eyes narrowed, and he almost got frustrated but he remembered where the groups were all heading to. The underbelly of the ship, which meant they were all conveniently withing range of the crystals. He smiled darkly and began to punch in a few commands.

However, as he did this his attention was dragged to Caeser and Hiyori. He paled considerably given he could see Caeser's soul and how routy it was becoming. He knew, deep in his heart, they would try to duke it out. And he hated the idea with every fiber of his being. Which reminded Aneirin he hadn't answered Caeser as he was busy dealing with the shinigami and the couple odds and ends beneath the ship. "Sir, technically we could fire again immediately, but as most of the populace within the one-mile distance was functionally erased. . . . it's really not worth it. Especially when all our "enemies" are beneath the ship at the moment. I'll inform you when I'm going to fire it again but that will be when we move the ship to another section of Moscow. Heh, there is over 900 square miles of land to vaporize so you'll see it again soon enough."

As Aneirin was about to start activating the crystals, given he'd hoped that his answer would give him enough time to start a new attack Caeser interrupted him. Kaneko was likely the only person that could "hear" him mentally scream in anguish at the idea of Hiyori and Caeser fighting. But he was a General and there were areas that this could be done at, so he'd "allow" it. Or rather have to let it happen. He sighed to himself and spoke up to the two fighters. "First, please don't destroy the surroundings too much. Please. Anyway, Any of the Bailies will do, though I'd say do so in the outermost bailey or the innermost bailey. The outermost is more or less a large open area intended for training and physical activity at the divisional or squadron level. The interior . . . simply has enough space despite the fauna and other "design choices" that were necessary to honor His Majesty. Do not, DO NOT go to the intermediate bailey. We have explosives planted throughout there and a fight could accidentally instigate any of the hidden explosives."

"Truthfully, if I have a say in the matter, go all the way beyond the third wall. Given our enemies are underneath the ship, they may realize the individual weakness of the ship's defense soon enough. And from the wall to the mountains edge is just landmass to do what you will. Finally, there are the gym within the ship, a quick Shatten will get you to them and given they are empty and about half a stadium in size, I'm certain you'll have ample space to fight. Please be careful though, we still have to renovate those areas." Aneirin could only hope one of the two would see reason. But his hope in the other two was minimal at best. And as the two walked out he decided he'd just include it in the damage reports given they were undoubtably going to damage something. With two individuals dealt with Aneirin looked over and saw Meredith and Kaneko. Though the former was taking a look over the internal structures of the facility while Kaneko giving him some of her attention. From what he saw off her panels she was looking over the shinigami below. A good idea all things considered.

Aneirin walked over to her, a couple reiatsu panels coming with him as he moved. "So more than anything I want to make sure I'm on the same page with you about what systems you were working on and their capabilities. As I recall, you were given equal authority to create a variety of systems and assisted me in the creation of the reactors. Though the sigils and other "reiatsu" magics were more my end, I know the technology was yours. So, anything you can fill me in on will be greatly appreciated. That and if you need any assistance testing any system let me know. I'll be managing the computational list of commands for the various system tests." As Aneirin took a glance at the screens Kaneko had up, he noticed something. Movement that was specific and varied compared to the remainder of the divisions.



RPC Specific:

Pulling up the feed and a few other cameras on his screens his eyes narrowed as he realized what was going on. A small group of three were searching around the base of the S.D.S. This meant they were likely to find out about the hole at the bottom soon. He frowned and immediately returned to powering up the crystals, he needed them to fire off the swathe of arrows sooner than later. But it was going to take a moment charge up all the crystals. He could, however, divert reiatsu to the lower quarter of crystals for a quicker response with less coverage. Not a preferable action but one that needed to be done. Specifically, to that group. A few more clicks and the lowermost section of crystals all began to glow. Given each crystal was a different color, their radiance was akin to a rainbow effect given so many began to glow. All who looked up towards them would find their glow easy to see.

In the meanwhile, Aneirin hadn't realized that arrows were fired off at the ship until a small alarm came in. He shifted a camera to look at the black flaming arrows, his head tilted some in confusion as those looked specifically like quincy arrows and yet, he hadn't registered any quincy other than those in the facility. Though to be fair, as a weapon arrow could be created by any oddball races and thus weren't completely out of the question, but it was still strange to say the least for him. Given the look of the attack though, even he could tell they weren't likely to do anything. But he watched just to be safe for what they could do. The first arrow aimed at a sigil simply struck the sigil. It slowly broke apart as the reiatsu that made it was absorbed. The second and third arrows, try though they might to have hit the ship instead found contact with the S.D.S. and were subsequently reflected back with any semblance of control taken away from Asmoskon.

Aneirin shrugged and decided to focus on the shinigami, taking his feed away from the arrows. Thankfully however his feed just informed him that the lower portion of the crystals were ready to fire and thus he smiled as he hit the button to activate them. By now the glows of the crystals at the lower quarter of the mountain were shining brightly but that brightness began to dim as quincy arrows were formed. Said arrows once fully formed fired off the crystals and began to rain down upon those immediately below the mountain and out to 125 feet from the central base of the mountain. For the most part, this meant that only those three shinigami that were searching for an entrance past the barrier were being fired at but with a few buttons on Aneirin's part it became obvious that the other crystals were slowly but surely beginning to glow as well. No one was safe underneath the castle and that was going to be apparent to everyone.

However, there was another set of crystals glowing but strangely so considering the assault that was just started. At the end of a bridge, one of six that surrounded the castle were a particularly large cluster of crystals. Each green in color and shining brightly under their sizeable gazebos. Their glow didn't darken, and they did not produce any arrows leaving their functions difficult to determine without decent ES (200) or some other analyzing skills. (Battle Analysis doesn't count.) But it was curious how they were left to their own devices, notably external to the S.D.S. The closest were the forward most crystal a quarter mile out and a few hundred feet up, the next two on either side of this central gazebo were at the same height but nearly triple the distance compared to the first bridge as far as the shinigami were concerned.


OOC:

Layla and Genka Specific Request - As ya'll have specific squad members investigating the S.D.S. DM me sometime when you're available so I can learn more about them and how they're going about their investigation as well as any applicable stats and skills you have for em. This will help me get an idea of their capabilities and help let you know how they'll fare in the attack as well as their investigation.

Asmo - Just so you know, you currently do not register as a quincy given your item. (As far as the radar is concerned.) Given the shinigami squads, you should be able to tell you are still relatively unknown, though it's safe to assume your attacks were noticed. Additionally, your arrows were not reflected back at you specifically just in some other direction.


Everyone: Starting now there is a 14-day timer for all individuals. This is to assist in giving everyone time to do any work, holiday events, family obligations, etc. that will be taking up your time during December. I'll let you all know when we'll return to the 10-day timer in January. Feel free to DM if you have any questions about whatever with this thread.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Niflheim Short-Range Ballistae}
OS: 600
Speed: 800
Range: From the central most section underneath the ship, to 125 feet out, all under the ship.


Notes: There are 4 sections of crystals. Bottom-most, outer bottom, lower top, and topmost. Each section has specific ranges they can target. Bottom-most is 0-125 feet, outer bottom is 126-250 feet, lower top is 251-375 feet, and the topmost is 376-500 feet.

All arrows are 3 feet in length, 1.5 feet in diameter, and are standard quincy arrows in form. On contact they explode with a 5 ft radius. The spread is fairly small at 4 feet between each arrow. All arrows come out in a series of volleys. With three total volleys that occur over the duration of a post.

Drawback: There is a single post cooldown after the user of the crystals to create three volleys. Additionally, any attacks that preemptively detonate one arrow will set off a chain reaction to detonate all arrows of that volley. Rendering the arrows useless for that volley if reacted to quicky. No more than two volleys can be fired at a time.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Details skill/stat check for the Green Crystals / Gazebos}
200 ES, 2 in Analysis, War Strategy, Learning will allow for the discernment of the capabilities of these gazebos and their crystals. Poke me personally for the information if your character qualifies.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The Captain of the Eleventh Division maintained her gaze onto the bottom of the ship as she remained beneath it, her eyes still fixated on the crystals. It was becoming clearer and clearer to her as she continued to analyze them that taking them down was what they now needed to do first and foremost. If her theory was correct and those things were thus truly responsible for the ship's power, then it meant that they were also consequently responsible for the functioning of much of its main systems. At the very least, that was what she thought, for after all, she didn't have much knowledge over how the ship actually worked beyond the fact that it could fly and that it also had the ability to shoot magical projectiles with mortar-like structures. For all she knew, those shining things were only really responsible for a few systems, and were therefore just bait. Unfortunately, there was nothing else they could do for the time being... and they didn't have much time to waste.

Just a glance down below was enough for Kimiko to once again note the ridiculousness of the sheer amount of destruction that had befallen the city of Moscow. Down there, where there was once a capital city about to celebrate Christmas, was now a wasteland devoid of life. The many edifices that previously occupied the space below had almost all been entirely erased from its existence, transformed either into nothingness or mere rubble robbed of any of its previous use, and the people that were watching the ship from below had effectively all been brutally massacred. The majority of them were disintegrated by the blasts with their souls most likely erased by the Quincy energy fueling the mortars, but the Shinigami could see a few corpses here and there, the bodies of civilians who were unlucky enough to experience a most terrible pain before their passing. Some had their bodies burned to such an extent that their skin had become a mixture of charred black and spiritual blue, while others had their insides propulsed across entire streets... and those were just the bodies over the rubble. There was nothing that suggested that there was nothing underneath it.

The horrors of the war had long since become something that Kimiko has gotten accustomed to. Therefore, the many corpses as well as the ruins of what was once a rather-impressive city did not phase her. However, what instead did were the thoughts that started appearing in her head as she thought about the incident in more detail. This was the first time something of such a terrible scale had occurred in the Living World. At the very least, it was the first time she saw it happen during her career. What will this mean for the Soul Society? In fact, what did it mean now? Has such devastation already led some of the officers who remained within Seireitei to conclude that they immediately needed to bring balance to the cycle of souls, and so they went to... conduct cleansing operations throughout Rukongai, where her students remained? Where there was most likely already close to a million dead Russians currently underneath her feet, will there also be near another million dead Pluses to accompany them?

For a brief moment, worry began to be instilled within her heart. Already, images of her students would flash before her eyes. One moment, they would be alive, and in the other, they would be dead with sword scars left onto their bodies. Then, the images worsened. The bodies became more mutilated. Their heads were cut off, their skin ripped open by a brutal force, their bodies reduced to ash by heavenly fire... It was all enough to cause the Captain's heartbeat to steadily increase and her eyes to widen. Slowly, as the images flashed faster and faster in that moment, she would see her appear into the frame of her mind. First nothing more than a vague imprint, she became clearer and clearer and clearer amidst the horrors of the Shinigami's imagination, standing still with a serious expression Kimiko had seen before. It was a glare that she had shown to the swordswoman back when they spoke of Ruhe and her importance.

Then, without any warning, the superior officer felt a twitch in her eye and the horrifying visions granted to her were gone. She wasn't exactly sure of what had brought her back to reality. Maybe it was her will to defy the belief of her Inner Hollow and what she expected out of the students of the schools, which was absolutely nothing but a waste of time. Perhaps it was instead her hope that such terrible things would not happen to her students, in spite of the fact that there was nothing that suggested that such a thing was not going to occur. More realistically, it was instead probably Celes' own officer who had allowed her to remember the task at hand. The officer wasn't actually talking to her; in fact, they were trying to get Celes' own attention shortly after Kimiko had sent Charles away to investigate the ship. Regardless, their voice reminded her of their presence and, therefore, the fact that nothing had been done to the ship just yet.

In any case, once she regained her senses, the dual swordswoman quickly glanced away from the capital wasteland below and instead back towards the ship's crystals. Now that their stronger subordinates had gone to infiltrate the ship, they could focus on this particular objective with more fervor. Speaking of which, the crystals had begun to suddenly glow ever since the aforementioned subordinates left the scene, causing Kimiko to frown. "Tch! I guess those things are mortars too!" She would conclude immediately - or rather, guess, mainly because this wasn't the first shiny magic thing that she has seen acting like a mortar thus far - quickly turning her attention towards the others. Then, she took a deep breath. "SCATTER, NOW!" She screamed at the top of her lungs with a voice that was just about as loud as her last call towards them, one that will definitely cause Celes to hopefully completely snap back to reality. Her poor throat will be probably rather sore once this is all over.

Right after her scream came to an end, the Captain's body would then vanish again with the aid of Shunpo. The officers that had survived up until now would do the same, now having gotten the memo to follow her Captain's directives as often as they possibly could in order to survive this horrid run towards their target. However, there was a single cluster of officers that failed to move in time, a small group of five officers that appeared to be more so recruits than anything else. Kimiko wasn't sure of if they came from the Tenth or the Eleventh in the moment due to her focus on the task at hand, but ultimately, it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. When they heard the Captain's call, they attempted to move as fast as they possibly could; however, their lack of experience caused two of them to be hit as they moved. One of them, a man, was immediately killed once by one of the arrows that came from the crystals. The other, a woman, was hit in the leg and the chest. She barely had the time to realize what was happening to the arrows which had hit her when she joined her group before she felt the surge of energy that came from them.

A scream of utter terror later, the arrows that hit the officers exploded. The result was another terrible sight among many. In the matter of a second or so, this particular group of the operation was immediately engulfed by a blast of spiritual energy. The man and the woman who were hit by the arrows were immediately annihilated in the process alongside another one of their comrades. Meanwhile, one of the last two of the group survived for perhaps five seconds until they realized that there was almost nothing that remained of their body but a mangled mess, with their charred intestines hanging from their pierced stomach and their tongue dropped from a hole left in their jaw. The survivor, them, then found themselves frozen in horror as they watched their disfigured comrade succumb to the pain and fall straight down towards the wasteland below. A single moment later, they immediately found themselves under another volley of arrows, and with another scream, they exploded too, leaving nothing behind.

This entire process occurred in a very short amount of time, and yet Kimiko watched it unfold with widened eyes. Her teeth, by then, were clenched powerfully against one another to the point that they almost hurt. It took every single fiber of her being to resist the urge to let go of her spiritual energy, just to make sure it wouldn't crush her other subordinates. With that said, she was going to put that surge of angry energy beginning to flow out of her body to good use. Taking another deep breath, she began to focus her power onto the black blade which remained in her second scabbard hanging from her right hip. Then, once she felt the energy had completely surrounded the blade, she would let the air that she had inhaled explode out of her throat in a loud shout that echoed throughout the area: "ENOUGH WITH THE COWARDICE OF THE VANDENREICH! EVERYONE, CHAAARGE! LET'S BREAK THESE CRYSTALS INTO A THOUSAND PIECES!" 

In this instant, everyone who happened to be near Kimiko in that moment would suddenly feel the dual swordswoman's voice pass right through their being. They would blink at first, surprised by the sheer strength behind the voice, before they would then become a thousand times more invested than they previously were. Their fear was gone, their power revitalized, and shortly after, they screamed at the top of their lungs in unison with their second leader. So, they each attempted to move towards the crystals - namely the green ones, as they appeared to be the only ones located outside of the impenetrable barrier - in scattered formations away from their line of fire, with Kimiko leading them all forward. Some would still be hit by the arrows, but as they did, they would make sure to use Shunpo as quickly as they possibly could to outright explode onto these green crystals, as though they were using their last moments to cause at least some kind of harm to the Vandenreich's weapon. It was a gruesome sight of flesh and bone that would no doubt cover some of the cameras set about the mountain with a certain amount of gore. However, none of the officers cared then. It was either that or the death of their comrades.

This mad dash towards the crystals would, surprisingly, not cause many of the lower officers to die. Indeed, in spite of some of them still being hit by the explosive arrows, their proficiency in Shunpo as well as their newfound courage in the face of death allowed them to remain somewhat calm enough to dodge the majority of them. Eventually, this would allow them and Kimiko to reach a number of the crystals. The Captain herself would find herself gazing upon them with clenched teeth at first, looking over them as though she was trying to find a right angle. Then, she would suddenly adopt a combative position as she grasped the scabbard of her black blade and its hilt at once. At that moment, she let out a singular war cry before she unleashed her blade towards her targets in a horizontal Iaijutsu strike. Due to the spiritual energy flowing within her blade, this process would cause the blade to appear elongated by scarlet red energy, roughly three times as large as usual so that it would reach a total size of 3 meters. It wouldn't be much for the bigger crystals, but hopefully for the smaller ones, it will allow Kimiko to break many of them at once.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu: 6700/7000  |  Cutback: Kakudai : 3 Posts Remaining  |  Akuma no Ishi : 3 Posts Remaining }
Technique Name: Shunpo (瞬歩, "Flash Steps")

Class: 7

Technique Type: Kidō

Technique Element: None

Technique Reiatsu Cost: 50/step

Technique Description and Effects

A movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. The focal point that determines the basis of this technique is speed. As speed is the main point of the technique, the method is best characterized by how fast one can get from Point A to Point B in the least amount of steps. Training and skill are what determines how fast a user of Shunpo can move. Those of little skill in the technique or those who haven't used it for an extended amount of time would obviously be out of practice, causing those individuals to be considerably slower. This requires the use of more steps to move the same distance and become tired more easily in a shorter amount of time. A single step magnifies speed for that step by ten times. Shunpo uses fifty Reiatsu per step. This one is automatically learned in the academy. All Shinigami know this when created. This technique does not take up a technique slot.

How to use technique

Focus of Reishi around the feet area and launch off into a single blurring step. It is not unlike teleportation in appearance, but it is simply extremely fast movement. It is often used to gain an edge in a single moment of combat or to dodge incoming attacks.

---

Technique Name: Cutback: Kakudai (減らす: 添加, "Cutback: Extension")

Technique Type: Cutback | Weapon Range Buff

Technique Element: None

Usable by: All races

Class: 4

Technique Reiatsu Cost: 200

Technique Description and Effects

An extension of a weapon's reach. The user focuses their spiritual pressure onto a particular section of their body or an object that they are currently holding onto. This process causes the formation of an extension of energy around the target which lasts for three posts. How far this extension goes is delimited by the user's proficiency in this technique, as can be seen below:

• Mastered: 3x
  
• Proficient: 2x
  
• Learned: 1.5x
  

Depending on what has been extended, the user can use melee techniques that are unusable in hand-to-hand combat with the aid of Cutback: Kakudai, such as sword techniques. Should it be necessary, this additional range of the target can be rendered smaller by a Proficient or Masterful user. For example, a Master of this technique can decide to extend their weapon only by 150% instead of 300% when confronting an enemy in a small location.


Drawbacks & Weaknesses

All attacks delivered by a target extended by this technique is to be treated as only using Spiritual Pressure as their Offensive Stat. No weapons which typically exclusively relies upon the Strength or the Reiatsu Strength of the user may be an exception to that rule. In other words, though this technique can allow those of lesser physical strength to be able to wield their weapon with greater power without releasing it, it may lead to a negative outcome to others who instead have lesser Spiritual Pressure. The extension of one's reach, although impressive, can also lead to complications depending on where the user is actually fighting. Small, cramped spaces can lead a few to become stuck inside of surfaces they once didn't need to interact with at all, and they may also cause these few to suddenly collide into things that they originally would not have actually been required to deal with. 


Made by: Nakajima Kimiko

Reserved? : No

---

Technique Name: Akuma no Ishi (剃るかんめき, "Demon's Will")

Technique Type: Other | Strength of Will Buff

Technique Element: None

Usable by: All races

Class: 3

Technique Reiatsu Cost: N/A

Technique Description and Effects

The projection of one's own will to empower the hearts of others. The user channels the strength of their very soul within themselves before shouting it out, most typically either in a short inspirational speech or a motivational war cry. By accomplishing this, the user is capable of bringing forth the Strength of Will skill of all of their surrounding allies by one point for the next three posts, inspiring them to go further beyond towards victory even if such a thing may cost their lives. A master of this skill is said to have such a powerful will that they are able to instead bring the aforementioned skill of their allies up by two points.


Drawbacks & Weaknesses

As saddening as this may be to those who may be interested in learning this technique, not everyone is born with a powerful will. That is simply a natural, uncontested fact that cannot be refuted even by the greatest minds there is in this world. In so doing, it is not difficult to imagine that this technique will not always show any kind of positive effect onto the people surrounding them, especially if they are used by naturally-uninspiring individuals. In order to guarantee this technique's proper success, the user must possess a 2 in at least one of the following skills: Acting, Charisma, or Strength of Will. This technique can be executed by those who have a lesser version of these skills if they so will it; however, upon execution, there will be a 50% chance of this skill failing to provide any kind of inspiration to allies altogether.


Made by: Nakajima Kimiko

Reserved? : No

---

Slightly before this chaos erupted, Charles would move onward around the great ship. His azure eyes would scout the ship as much as they possibly could, trying to spot something that he could use in order to get inside the ship. Unfortunately, for the first minute or so following the beginning of his search, his search remained somewhat unsuccessful. But, nevertheless, he remained as hopeful as he could be in the moment, if only because he knew of how important the job he had given was meant to be. The one thing he had come to learn throughout her military career was that the bigger something was, the bigger was the possibility of it containing some kind of weakness that could lead it to its eventual downfall. If that same fact could be applied to this ship, then his finding of just one weakness would allow this entire battle to end, and the Vandenreich would be left stuck with one less super-weapon. Not that they needed the damn thing anyway. They're already pretty bothersome as is.

As he went on with his search, he would eventually come to realize that he was being followed. They were far from him at first, but soon, they came closer and closer to him to the point that it would become no longer tolerable for him. Upon coming to this realization, he would sigh, then swiftly stop moving before turning his gaze over his shoulder. It would be then that he would realize that he was being followed by fellow Shinigami officers. At first, he appeared reticent to continue; after all, as much as he wanted to ignore it, this entire ordeal was beginning to remind him of something in particular that occurred in his past. However, swiftly after the memories appeared in his head, he would push them away as much as he could. Now was not the time to reminisce about the past. So, he would his best to retain his composure before letting out a single sigh. "Alright. I take it Captain Shindazu's the one who sent you. Either way, it doesn't matter. So long as you're with me, I want you all to follow my command. Understood?" He would go on to ask them with that same tired demeanor of his. Then, once was all was said and done, he would turn his attention back to the ship.

The crystals Kimiko had noticed earlier had suddenly begun to glow towards their direction. Admittedly, Charles wasn't quite sure of what that was supposed to mean, but in his mind, it reminded him of the revving of turrets and chain guns. In other words, there wasn't much time left on their hands before this whole place turns into a bloody mess and it becomes completely impossible to find a weakness they could use the infiltrate the ship. Keeping his calm, he would let out another sigh before turning his gaze back towards his comrades and quickly giving them a swift hand sign. "Come on, let's move! That damn thing isn't gonna wait for us to do something before it shoots at us," he scoffed before he then resume his search, quickly scouting the underneath of the ship. Again, the search would be difficult. While the glow of the crystals ironically shed some light onto some of the rocks that formed the mountain beneath the castle above, rocks remained rocks; thus, it remained difficult to spot anything of importance. That was... until he did spot something. 

As a whole, the ship was protected by some kind of magical barrier. That was something that practically everyone had figured simply by staring at the warship, or rather those who had the ability to properly do so with their capacity of sensing spiritual energy. With that being said, there was a space underneath the ship that actually didn't seem to be protected by this barrier. At times, the rings which surrounded the ship would pass over this space, but otherwise, it appeared relatively safe to access. Bingo. There was no real way to tell where this was going to lead them. Really, it was entirely possible that it would lead the trio right into some kind of hellhole filled with who knows how many Vandenreich officers waiting for them to show up. However, it was worth a try. It wasn't like there was any other places they could go for the time being, anyway. In so doing, after finding this space, Charles would quickly turn his head towards his comrades again before raising his hand again. The warning that would come from him would be soft, but decisive. "Quiet now. I don't want a single sound to come from you both from now on." 

And with that, he would quickly move first towards the space with his right hand grasping the hilt of his dagger sheathed on his chest, making sure that he would not get hit by the rings. It was time to go to work.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Charles Hensley}

Charles Hensley

Class: Shinigami - Third Seat (2)
Rank: 2
Type: Soldier Version 2
Squad: 11th Division

---

[ A B I L I T I E S ]

Note: Due to Charles' "Soldier Version 2" Type and him being Rank 2, he receives a +75% bonus in Speed and a -25% penalty in Reiatsu Strength.

Statistics

Physical	Spiritual		Sensory	Miscellaneous
Strength: 100 Speed: 700 (400+300)	Reiatsu Strength: 30 (50-20) Spiritual Pressure: 400		Instincts: 225 Senses: 150 Energy Sensory: 50	Light Aura: 65 Dark Aura: 35 Healing Expertise: 0

Skills

Mental	Battle		Body	Utility
Calm Mind: 3	Combat Knife: 3 Bleeding Tolerance: 3 Battle Analysis: 3 Pain Tolerance: 2		Stealth: 3	N/A

[Celes Castellanos]

[blockquote[As the girl was left reminiscing about Hiyori, Celes was quickly torn from her contemplation by a familiar voice. "SCATTER, NOW!" The Captain blinked, shifting her eyes towards Kimiko before looking back up. A hail of arrows was about rain upon them, discharged by the crystals that sat below the imposing mountain. The Shinigami began to disperse, clearing the area rather quickly through various means. Some utilized Shunpo, others of the Tenth pooled together their energy for various barrier Kido, while some merely were alert and quick enough. Not everyone was quite so lucky though.

Some were struck, caught off-guard by the vicious storm of arrows. As Celes began to move, she took note of a steam of arrows that raced towards a group of Shinigami. Celes muttered to herself, "Shit.." Executing a Shunpo to move at blinding speeds, the Captain appeared before them. Without a second thought, Celes threw her arms around the closest two she could grab, carrying them with her. The rest were unfortunately struck down, their bodies seared and practically obliterated by the all-consuming explosion. Celes let out a soft grunt as she heard their cries in the distance. "Not again...", she thought to herself, reminded of those she couldn't save.

Once the coast was clear, Celes dropped off the two Shinigami who were in a brief state of shock. They shuddered in place for a moment before turning to Celes. One of them spoke in a shaky voice, "T- thank you, Captain." However, Celes didn't respond. She looked back at the momentarily floating remains of Shinigami. Brothers and sisters in arms who began to fall to the earth below. The Captain curled her hand into a fist. Suddenly, Kimik's voice erupted again, giving an order. LET'S BREAK THESE CRYSTALS INTO A THOUSAND PIECES!" That was all she needed to hear.

"Everyone! Concentrate on those crystals!", she affirmed to everyone else around her. Brandishing their Zanpakutō, the men and women of the Tenth & Eleventh Divisions rallied forth behind Kimiko to attack the crystals. Celes might've joined them, but she had something quite different in mind. There was a clear barrier that surrounded the mountain. It somewhat reminded her of the Shakonmaku of the Seireitei. If that was the case, it would make a frontal assault difficult. They needed to breach that barrier! Celes pushed her hands together, cracking her knuckles before utilizing another Shunpo.

Materializing about 25 ft away from the perimeter of the barrier, Celes allowed reiatsu to pool through her arms, stimulating her muscles like an electrical impulse. Her limbs blurred for a brief moment before she dashed forward. Celes could've just punched the barrier normally, but she was not taking any chances. The woman's voice roared through the air as a hail of punches suddenly erupted from the girl, violently crashing against the barrier of the S.D.S. Each strike would pack unimaginable physical strength behind it and shoot outward at a speed of 2400. As her punches continued to crash into the barrier, a familiar voice rang. "Isn't this the part where you should be yelling Muda repeatedly?" Even despite the cheeky comment, Celes did not let it deter her. She continued until each of the one hundred devastating strikes were spent.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}
Celes' Reiatsu: 3950/4000

-100 for Shunpo

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shunpo}Technique Name: Shunpo (Flash Steps)

Class: 7

Technique Type: Kidō

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects: A movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. The focal point that determines the basis of this technique is speed. As speed is the main point of the technique, the method is best characterized by how fast one can get from Point A to Point B in the least amount of steps. Training and skill are what determines how fast a user of Shunpo can move. Those of little skill in the technique or those who haven't used it for an extended amount of time would obviously be out of practice, causing those individuals to be considerably slower. This requires the use of more steps to move the same distance and become tired more easily in a shorter amount of time. A single step magnifies speed for that step by ten times. Shunpo uses fifty Reiatsu per step. This one is automatically learned in the academy. All Shinigami know this when created. This technique does not take up a technique slot.

How to use technique: Focus of Reishi around the feet area and launch off into a single blurring step. It is not unlike teleportation in appearance, but it is simply extremely fast movement. It is often used to gain an edge in a single moment of combat or to dodge incoming attacks.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Gigei Mikon: Hyuku Shikon - 2700 OS}Technique Name: Gigei Mikon: Hyaku Shikon [Wild Arts: Hundred Fangs]

Class: 3

Technique Type: Other

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects: This technique was developed in order to increase the user's strength in hand-to-hand combat. Using this technique sends Reiatsu pooling into the muscles and joints of his arms and hands, strengthening them and increasing their resilience. By using that same Reiatsu, he sends powerful impulses to the nerves that allows his limbs to react quickly in the form of a hundred powerful punches. Each one is fired off at twice the user's current Speed stat, causing his limbs to blur as the attacks are delivered in a sudden barrage that lasts only a few seconds. Each hit’s damage is equal to the combined total of user’s base Strength and Speed after type. This causes a massive amount of damage in a short time.

How to use technique: The user focuses their Reiatsu into the arms, strengthening the muscles and bones first to prevent excessive damage from overuse of the limbs. Following that, the same Reiatsu is channeled into the nerves and causes them to fire impulses rapidly, making his limbs move quickly in the form of a hundred lightning-fast blows.

Drawback: Moving one’s limbs beyond their natural limits causes strain and damage on the muscles and bone; though Reiatsu is first channeled to prevent the worst of the damage, each use of this technique wears down the muscles and causes them to throb heavily after only one use. Two uses within five posts causes the muscles to begin tearing, and small fractures along the bone. Three uses within five posts will completely tear several muscles while cracking the bones, and any additional uses within that initial five posts will render the user's arms useless without proper healing. This technique can only safely be used eight times within a thread without healing.

Requirements: This requires a 2 in Hakuda to perform.

Made by: [Zeich Yajuu]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Mind & Soul}Technique Name: Mind and Soul
Class: 6
Technique Type: Physical Bu Gei, Tier 4
Usable By: Anyone who has learned Body of Iron
Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects: By taking time to center the soul and reassert primacy, the mind realigns the spirit to match its state of harmony. The user may shift any amount of pre-type Stat Points from their Instinct into a Reiatsu Efficiency Factor and vice versa. For every 1 Instinct the user moves into this Reduction, it pays for the first 4 reiatsu of their non-release techniques and effects, each post. For every 4 additional points of reiatsu the user sheds each post, their Instinct increases by 1.

For every rank the user has in the Iron Tiger Tradition skill, this technique pays for an additional 50 reiatsu in non-release technique and effect costs per post.

How to use technique: See above.

Technique Drawbacks: This technique can only be utilized once every three posts. Increasing Instinct takes up a Long-Term Stat Boost slot, but that number can be increased and decreased as necessary every three posts; the slot will only be used once Instinct is balanced out or decreased.

Made By: Ammutseba & Paste

Reserved? No

---

As the assault upon Nifelheim went on proper, Viola and Nadia were on their way to meet up with Charles. Nadia had a big grin on her face, practically shivering with anticipation. Viola's disposition was far more reserved, following the 14th Seat closely. "So... what do you think we'll find in their, Nadia?", the 7th Seat asked sheepishly. "Dunno, but it should be exciting! We're gonna be behind enemy lines. Reminds me of my days with the Onmitsukidō." Viola's eyes went wide and muttered softly, "The Stealth Force? Didn't know you had that in your background, Nadia..." Before she had a chance to answer, Nadia stopped in her tracks and pushed her arm out to stop Viola who clumsily ran into it. The blonde-haired woman rubbed her head and groaned.

Charles stood before the two of them, addressing them. "Alright. I take it Captain Shindazu's the one who sent you. Either way, it doesn't matter. So long as you're with me, I want you all to follow my command. Understood?" Nadia and Viola briefly looked at each other as the former nodded. However, as he turned his attention back towards the ship, a sly smirk crept up Nadia's lips as she whispered just loud enough for Viola to hear, "Guess mister big shot has to compensate for something..." A brief crimson blush swept across Viola's cheeks as she just focused on the ship.

As the gleam of the emerald crystals began to point towards them, a bad feeling washed over Viola. What were they doing? This feeling was largely echoed by Charles as he told them to get moving! Nadia nodded and grabbed hold of Viola, practically dragging her towards the underside of Nifelheim. Vertigo aside, Viola shook her head and continued to visually scan the underbelly of Nifelheim. Among the crystals, the green ones seemed almost unique. She could sense different reiatsu and wavelengths patterns swirling through them. It didn't feel volatile though. It felt a little too orderly.

As they continued to investigate, Charles eventually found the opening and told the both of them to be as quiet as a mouse. As one could expect, Nadia rolled her eyes again. Viola gave a determined look. As Charles continued on, Viola followed with Nadia forming the backline. While Viola idly placed one hand upon the sheath of her Zanpakutō, Nadia quietly unsheathed her one of her Zanpakutō, holding a wakizashi in her hand. Both of them followed Charles' closely, alert and hopefully ready to respond to any dangers they came across in their infiltration.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Viola}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Nadia}

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon watched as the arrows that he released from his bow soared high towards different targets of the ship. What he gathered from the course of his arrows though and the sensation that he felt towards each one was that just like one could assume the sigils worked in various ways. The Vandenreich had been working on something of this scale for quite a while; that's all he could surmise for certain beyond the fact that one of his arrows had been absorbed. Broken down with his influence stripped away, almost like how they took control of the reiatsu generated by the environment. An interesting although aggravating discovery that was going to be a seage difficult from a distance.

His other arrows were deflected in a way that visually matched someone or something just swatted them away. He could feel the disconnect though and knew that it was something more spiritual than just a basic wall. He had to question whether or not he could damage the origin point of the barrier whether it be someone or the crystals that were in view if he restored to using his power property. Never a Wasted Shot was something he didn’t like to swing around for everyone to see, but damaging something beyond his ability to shoot, well it was made to accomplish that very feat.

Taking note though with his sapphire left eye beneath the mask of spiritual ore, the Quincy saw the emerald green shine. An attack of devastation upon the city that in truth was comparable to an entire squadron of Quincy firing off a volley. He had to question whether or not things would have been better if he pulled in all his cards. Sought out all his former students and subordinates in order to reform his section of the Xcution Military for this incursion of the Human World. Brushing aside the useless thoughts of what if though Asmoskon pulls his bow back once again this time taking note of a potential got ya or weakness.

He’d release an arrow each to the green cluster of crystals seeking to hopefully at least make contact. If his arrows could damage them it would be great, but optimistism wasn’t something anyone could use to describe the dark archer. No more than likely his arrows might just manage to touch and that’d be enough to tell him where to shoot. There was always the risk though this was what they wanted, but it wasn’t unlike him to rush in against the odds or right into a trap only to walk out alive after killing every single one of them.

He was putting everyone that lived in this city, everyone here to fight against them and the world itself at risk by taking this slow. Asmoskon though knew this ship wasn’t something to take lightly. Due to its size he was certain there had to be anywhere from 3-5 Stern Ritter affiliated with it, not to mention the more than a hundred insects onboard. No he had to poke and prod in order to figure it out so that in the future he could handle it faster. Moscow might be lost, but sacrificing the few for the sake of the many was his only choice. Pulling in some of the reiatsu that was stagnant around him through his cross as he watched would be his last bit of distraction as he watched his arrows.

Remaining Reiatsu: 3500/3500
Arrows: (Class 1) (6x) {-420}
Reiatsu Absorption: {+800}

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Aneirin continued to watch the video feed was getting about the shinigami groups he was seeing. They were starting to suffer further losses from the arrow volley. He chuckled to himself wondering how exactly these idiots thought going under the ship with crystals glowing brightly was a smart idea. He almost laughed however if he hadn't caught site of something that was deeply concerning. The shinigami were spreading and were heading towards the L.D.R. crystals. His eyes grew wide as he stared at the screen and looked in horror as he pulled up more feeds to see just how many were being attacked. A warning message quickly informed him that every set of radar crystals were being attacked. Some from Shinigami but where shinigami weren't able to race to, there were those same black flaming arrows. Given these crystals were outside the S.D.S. barrier he couldn't do anything to save them. He bit his lip harshly until it bled as his frustration boiled over. The worst part about this was that all the crystals and their gazebo's weren't under the ship, so his arrow volley were never going to hit them. He hadn't even been able to install a system to attack close range targets that weren't under the ship because he'd never suspected they were going to make it so close to the Niflhiem. He slammed his hand on the terminal as he watched the crystals shatter.



Contrary to their appearance the green crystals were akin to glass. A solid enough hit would shatter them with ease. And before long the shinigami managed to rupture no less than 3 sets of radar crystals. Meanwhile the remaining crystals were shattered at their base by the godforsaken black arrows. Upon all the L.D.R. crystals being destroyed an error sign showed up and the feed about any and all spiritual bodies was lost immediately. His video and audio feed were present, but he could only have so many videos up that he could pay attention to at once. This would be a severe penalty that the Niflhiem would have to endure as Aneirin and those who were external to the ship or had high ES (200 and up) would realize just what was happening in the meantime. Shortly after Aneirin lost his feed, he began rapidly pulling up video feeds so he could look between them all rapidly. His eyes found a number of things that blew him away. He found not one, but two captains present. One at a gazebo slamming their sword into the remains of the L.D.R. crystal and the other who had Shunpo'd right up to the barrier. But most curious of all was an eerie individual cloaked in black and with a strange mask. Given the shinigami didn't have bow weapons out this had to be the individual in question. But the real worry was if they were a quincy or not. At a glance he couldn't tell as the finer details were lost on his feed.



This is when shit hit the fan for Aneirin. Celes having gotten as close as possible to the barrier was rapidly flinging blow after blow against it. And while it didn't seem to do much at first, it became very apparent that cracks were starting to form on the barrier. Small ones at first but as more and more hits landed, these cracks would grow larger and larger. Eventually beginning to fracture and spread throughout that segment of the barrier. Warning messages blared at Aneirin as he was clearing them so he could find out just what was going on. Celes, though her series of blows, while not having broken through her section of the S.D.S. had put a veritable dent into it as the local shock absorbers for that segment were literally shot through. Even the rings themselves that encircled the ship seemed to be trying to bear some of the weight of Celes's blows only to find cracks and damage being inflicted upon them.



If this was where the damage stayed, it'd be bad but manageable. With a bit of time Aneirin could redistribute reiatsu and reinforce that segment. Even going so far as to conjure up some means of resistance that could hinder Celes or anyone else who'd decide that they needed to continue where Celes left off. But that wasn't the end. To those with 200 ES or higher (or Celes as she's at point blank), they'd be able to sense that space was warping again. Yet the energy that was creating this warping effect was not quincy in nature. And certainly not "divine" as vandenriech reiatsu had the tendency to feel like. Instead, it was evil, warped, and like malevolent hellish energy. Then with a thunderous shredding sound a literal tear in space, about 200 feet behind and 50 feet above Celes appeared. Through the tear would come two things. The first being a shinigami male of some kind. Gauntlets on their arms, well trained, and easily recognizable to likely any shinigami in nearby. It was Kaen of all things and he was literally being thrown from the tear and launched at the barrier. If he didn't stop himself, he'd find his body slamming into it not unlike a cartoon character slamming into a wall. Just a decent bit more painful.



This even wouldn't have been an issue. What came through next, however, would be. A simple hammer. Seemingly rock exterior, with a leather wrapped handle except it had a strange light blue glow around it that was steadily growing deeper in color until it was a deep ocean blue. Aneirin felt it enter this side of the world and almost immediately knew what would happen and so brought up the video feed as he tried to punch in commands. Any command. Every command. He needed to redirect reiatsu to the fragmented barrier now or else! But there wasn't anything in this world, the next, or any other that could stop what was about to happen. The hammer would fly true and land straight at the fragmented segment of the S.D.S. that Celes had only just a few moments prior damaged. Upon contact with the S.D.S. the hammer would find itself being flung off at speeds no living person around could see, only knowing it was flung off to the distance due to how the barrier before them dented, warped, and even rebounded. Yet it was this rebound that created a ripple and said ripple was reinforced by all the energy the hammer had been storing up from the reality tear as well as the energy that was so heavily condensed in the S.D.S. As Aneirin screamed out in the control room his video feed would show the other Vandenriech officers exactly what he was fearing. The cracks on the S.D.S. would rapidly spread throughout the entire barrier leaving behind fractures that were equally coated in the dark blue energy. Once the ripple reached the opposite side of the S.D.S. the barrier shattered and began to fall apart. Some parts looked like glass with shards flying off in all directions. Others seemed like liquid drops from a popped bubble. And some simply began to fade away. Regardless though the moving rings around the Niflhiem all shuddered and heaved as they found themselves slowing down further and further before ultimately stopping in place. Cracks and craters littered over their form as reiatsu leaked through them along with smoke and small bright white-blue fires sparking.



Worse yet all the crystals that the Niflhiem had active grew immensely bright before their energy dispersed. Causing small spheres of reiatsu to form all around the Niflheim before breaking apart into reiatsu particles and fading away leaving only dull crystals behind. Even the ship itself heaved as if moved by the force of The Emperor himself and gave a deep groan that all could hear. For the vandenriech officers in the control room the lights, panels, and reiatsu would dim, fade away partially, before returning a moment later. Aneirin was furious at this development. He wasn't going to let this stand. NEVER. He looked at all the vandenriech currently in the room and yelled out to them. "ALL OF YOU EXCEPT KANAKO GET OUT THERE AND STOP THESE SHINIGAMI! We've lost the S.D.S. and they WILL begin entering the facility within minutes. The doors can only hold back those beasts so long. Same for those who try to punch their way through the walls and barriers we have surrounding the castle. Go grab the supplies you need from the armory if you must but make sure you start heading towards to all the invaders! Right now, there's two captains, a mysterious masked figure in black, and some vice-captain who was literally thrown through space to get here! WE CANNOT LET THEM GET ANY FURTHER THAN THEY WILL GET NOW!"



Aneirin ran to the panels and made sure the power systems were still operational. Once he was certain they were fine just momentarily disturbed he ran over to Kanako and had her focus her energies on the defensive barriers around the innermost section of the castle, the intermediate section of the castle, and the actual reactor rooms deep in the mountain itself. As for himself he started activating the various defense systems throughout the ship such as the reinforced doors, the explosive mines, and much more. For now, all he could say was that he was glad the reactors weren't harmed from that fucking mallet and that even the rings could be fixed once this was test run was done. But that would take many skilled workers and time that wasn't available to them as of this moment. He growled in frustration as he pulled up the feeds showing all the noteworthy targets and started having the ship analyze their signatures. He was going to know where these insufferable menaces were at all times if it killed him.



As for the shinigami and Asmoskon, as the S.D.S. barrier is shattered for those near the crystals let me know if you have any of the following skills at 3 or above. Focused Eye, Analysis, or War Strategy. Additionally, if you have Senses at 200 or above this is applicable to you also. The gazebos that were on top of the green crystals that have been destroyed have a bridge connected to the mountain's underside. Upon close inspection one with the appropriate skills or senses stat can with some time and effort realize there is a hidden door the bridge connects to. This door is spiritually reinforced and looks akin to the rocks around it. For those who cannot find these doors, the ship is momentarily stopped and thus travel to the castle on the top of the mountain is accessible as is the ship as a whole. The barrier will not return as it's been too heavily damaged. Congratulations you've all managed to get through the first hurdle!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Updated Status of the Niflheim}
S.D.S. is heavily damaged and inactive for the remainder of the thread.

L.D.R. has had its actual radars (the green crystals) destroyed utterly. This is no longer functional.

The ship has been moved slowly northward by the Esteemed Hammer. Momentary fluctuations in reiatsu throughout the Niflhiem have made it vulnerable and unable to defend itself for a moment.

The systems are recovering and beginning to activate traps and other systems within the Niflhiem. These will be completely recovered upon the next DM post.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Posting Order - READ THIS -}
As we've had some folks leave and a new folk join, I'm putting up the order as it stands now. We will be working in groups as opposed to individuals. The group has 2 weeks to post. Anyone in the group can post in the order they desire. Once the two weeks are past or every member of the group has posted, it will then be the next groups turn.

The groups and order of the groups are as follows:

DM: Myself

Shinigami: Kimiko, Celes, Kaen

Mercenaries/Other: Asmoskon

Vandenriech: Caeser and Paste (if they desire to remain or swap their character)

OOC: Don't forget to DM me if you have any ideas or things you want to do. Such as using skills that your character has but aren't always given the limelight. Also, if you have any questions feel free to DM me.

[Nakajima Kimiko]

The legions of the Tenth and the Eleventh - or rather, what remained of them after the first wave of attacks that they endured from the warship - found themselves quickly reaching the crystals of mountainous structure once their leaders told them all to reach out for them. Such was unfortunately the only thing that they could use as a prominent objective at the time, given that the barrier that was being generated around the warship practically prevented them from heading towards anything else, and it was far too resistant for most of the soldiers that were currently under the Captains' command. That, and Kimiko knew that it would be the fastest way to at the very least damage the ship in one way or another, as solely focusing on the barrier was only going to lengthen their time here under the ship, and therefore grant even more time for whoever was commanding the stream of explosive arrows to take aim at them and reduce them to smithereens.

With clenched teeth, the swordswoman headed from crystal to crystal, slashing them as fast as she could alongside the rest of her officers. It wasn't a particularly-pleasant operation, especially given that there was no clear way to understand what the crystals actually did to the warship itself, but again, she understood that it was the only reasonable thing they could do right then and there. So, she'd clench her teeth and allow her anger to fuel her every action, letting it push her onward into further crystalline destruction. "RAAAH!" Her powerful screams would echo countless times across the area as she slashed at the crystals, with every one of them causing the other officers following her close to shout in unison. Even the ones who had been hit by more arrows would shout out the remains of their wrath as they threw themselves at an even greater number of crystals, forever fueled by Kimiko's absurd willpower in the face of imminent death and beyond. They would die for Moscow, for the Living World, and for the Soul Society.

A minute or so after the assault against the crystals began, several of their green selves had been pulverized. Once more, Kimiko couldn't quite ascertain what their destruction had achieved, but it had most surely damaged the warship in one way or another. Whatever happened, she was more than happy to destroy them. It was revenge for the fall of her and Celes' subordinates. However, unbeknownst to her, something much more significant would occur shortly after she realized that Celes had separated from the group to focus on smashing the barrier. With several blinks, the dojo master would quickly attempt to search for her mentor with increasingly-widening eyes. She thought that, somehow, Celes had been hit by the exploding arrows and had fallen towards the wasteland below. "Celes! Celes, where are you?! We're supposed to stay together!" She called, very quickly clenching her teeth thereafter in worry. This would cause some of the officers under her charge to attempt to find Celes as well... but fortunately, it would not take long for them to find her.

No sooner than a few seconds after the swordswoman called for the lime-haired girl, the sound of several massive strikes colliding with a magical barrier would suddenly begin to be heard not far from their position. They were loud, enough so that it caused a few officers to wince, but they were also clear enough for Kimiko to pinpoint her friend's position. Soon after, she'd be able to see her friend far above their position, assaulting the barrier. At first, she was bothered by this, as there was nothing that suggested that Celes was safer up there than down below with the rest of them. There was also the matter of the Captain deciding to quite simply move away from she and the rest of their subordinates without actually informing them about what she was doing. Eventually, though, she relented and readied herself to return to the cleansing of the crystals. Now was not the time to bicker about such things, after all. Any argument made here would risk the lives of the Humans down below as well as their aforementioned subordinates even further.

But then, without any warning whatsoever, she saw something appear not far up over Celes. It was slightly difficult for her to properly see what was happening, but up there, she could see it with her very own eyes. From seemingly out of nowhere, she saw a body appear and be launched straight towards the barrier. With squinting eyes, she would be able to identify the body as... Kaen's? "Huh?! What the..."  she would automatically let out in response to what was happening, evidently confused by practically everything that was happening. But that wasn't the one thing that caused her so much the greatest amount of confusion amidst them all. Oh no, not at all, for people getting teleported from out of nowhere was at this point something that she had been starting to get used to as a fellow teleporting gal herself. No, what instead surprised her was what followed right after Kaen and subsequently crashed straight against the barrier: a simple hammer.

As the great tool finished its crashing, everything that was protecting the warship from the outside world crumbled into pieces. The barrier was instantly shattered, leaving the warship almost wide open, and the crystals that Kimiko and the other Shinigami officers had been attempting to destroy were immediately overloaded with spiritual energy to the point that eventually shut down. Taken aback by what just happened, the swordswoman would find herself staring at the now-darkened stones with widened eyes alongside the rest of the officers. Then, slowly, she would take a deep breath and smirk. "EXCELLENT! THIS IS OUR CHANCE!" She shouted at the top of her lungs to the officers before she looked up towards the fortress above, causing everyone's attention to be turned towards her once again. "EVERYONE, FOLLOW ME! IT'S TIME FOR US TO SAY HELLO TO THE COWARDS OF THIS MACHINE AND BRING THEM THEIR END!" 

And with that, the Captain of the Eleventh would quickly begin to move upward alongside those who remained from her squad and Celes'. It was akin to a wave of black heading upward towards the many structures above, where the assault would take place. In the meantime, Kimiko would use this opportunity to reconvene with Celes and, hopefully, Kaen. "Good work, Celes! Although, I can't say I was expecting that hammer," she admitted before she would turn her head towards their new objective. "I've sent Charles' group to a hidden door I noticed down while I was traveling the mountain! If all goes well, they will be able to destroy several of this damned thing's systems before they realize what's going on!"  

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu: 6700/7000  |  Cutback: Kakudai : 2 Posts Remaining  |  Akuma no Ishi : 2 Posts Remaining }
Technique Name: Cutback: Kakudai (減らす: 添加, "Cutback: Extension")

Technique Type: Cutback | Weapon Range Buff

Technique Element: None

Usable by: All races

Class: 4

Technique Reiatsu Cost: 200

Technique Description and Effects

An extension of a weapon's reach. The user focuses their spiritual pressure onto a particular section of their body or an object that they are currently holding onto. This process causes the formation of an extension of energy around the target which lasts for three posts. How far this extension goes is delimited by the user's proficiency in this technique, as can be seen below:

• Mastered: 3x
  
• Proficient: 2x
  
• Learned: 1.5x
  

Depending on what has been extended, the user can use melee techniques that are unusable in hand-to-hand combat with the aid of Cutback: Kakudai, such as sword techniques. Should it be necessary, this additional range of the target can be rendered smaller by a Proficient or Masterful user. For example, a Master of this technique can decide to extend their weapon only by 150% instead of 300% when confronting an enemy in a small location.


Drawbacks & Weaknesses

All attacks delivered by a target extended by this technique is to be treated as only using Spiritual Pressure as their Offensive Stat. No weapons which typically exclusively relies upon the Strength or the Reiatsu Strength of the user may be an exception to that rule. In other words, though this technique can allow those of lesser physical strength to be able to wield their weapon with greater power without releasing it, it may lead to a negative outcome to others who instead have lesser Spiritual Pressure. The extension of one's reach, although impressive, can also lead to complications depending on where the user is actually fighting. Small, cramped spaces can lead a few to become stuck inside of surfaces they once didn't need to interact with at all, and they may also cause these few to suddenly collide into things that they originally would not have actually been required to deal with. 


Made by: Nakajima Kimiko

Reserved? : No

---

Technique Name: Akuma no Ishi (剃るかんめき, "Demon's Will")

Technique Type: Other | Strength of Will Buff

Technique Element: None

Usable by: All races

Class: 3

Technique Reiatsu Cost: N/A

Technique Description and Effects

The projection of one's own will to empower the hearts of others. The user channels the strength of their very soul within themselves before shouting it out, most typically either in a short inspirational speech or a motivational war cry. By accomplishing this, the user is capable of bringing forth the Strength of Will skill of all of their surrounding allies by one point for the next three posts, inspiring them to go further beyond towards victory even if such a thing may cost their lives. A master of this skill is said to have such a powerful will that they are able to instead bring the aforementioned skill of their allies up by two points.


Drawbacks & Weaknesses

As saddening as this may be to those who may be interested in learning this technique, not everyone is born with a powerful will. That is simply a natural, uncontested fact that cannot be refuted even by the greatest minds there is in this world. In so doing, it is not difficult to imagine that this technique will not always show any kind of positive effect onto the people surrounding them, especially if they are used by naturally-uninspiring individuals. In order to guarantee this technique's proper success, the user must possess a 2 in at least one of the following skills: Acting, Charisma, or Strength of Will. This technique can be executed by those who have a lesser version of these skills if they so will it; however, upon execution, there will be a 50% chance of this skill failing to provide any kind of inspiration to allies altogether.


Made by: Nakajima Kimiko

Reserved? : No

[Kaen Youji]

"----AAAAAAA (is that Celes?) --AAAAAAAAA" THUD.

"....Ow."

And then all Hell broke loose, as his misplaced Esteemed Hammer, charged up by the power of Tequila, slammed into the barrier Kaen had just splatted against, and formed a considerable breach in it. He overheard another familiar voice-- that of Kimiko Nakajima if he wasn't mistaken, giving a huge rallying cry to summon the troops. Well, Kaen had.... absolutely no idea what was going on, but this was a giant flying fortress of some variety, there seemed to be a vested interest in getting inside, and it seemed Kimiko was leading some variety of charge? With absolutely nothing else to go on, Kaen figured it was best to fall in line with people he could easily identify as allies until further notice.

Giving his head a good one, two, three shakes to clear it, he dropped down to join up with Celes and noticed that indeed, Kimiko was joining them. "Hah, good to see you Celes. Kimiko. You both look like you're doing well!" At the comment about the hammer, he smiled. "Thank you! That went just as planned! Aha! .....Now can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here, because I was literally in Karakura just a few minutes ago dealing with some crazy alcoholic monster there that blew up several city blocks, and now--"

Kaen paused for a second. Then started to shiver. "Ah,where am I, it's cold here!" The Shinigami lieutenant suddenly bolted for the nearest access point to the Nifelheim fortress, hoping very much that he'd be able to find some form of warmth inside the structure. The Shinigami was.... very, very clearly not dressed for the cold, bearing his usual modified sleeveless Shinigami uniform, with no undershirt, although the glint of steel beneath it was noticeable, indicating he'd brought his chainmail vest along. That plus the gauntlets. Though in this frigid temperature, frozen metal on skin was probably not the nicest thing to feel either.

"C-can someone update me inside where it's warmer? FRICK it's cold! WHY IS IT ALWAYS SOMEWHERE COLD!? It seemed that Kaen hadn't fully grasped the situation or even that they were fighting the Vandenreich just yet....

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Skills}
Strength - 375 Points (750)
Speed - 375 Points (750)
Spiritual Pressure - 200 Points (150)
Reiatsu Strength - 325 Points
Light Aura - 45 Points
Dark Aura - 55 Points
Instinct- 175 Points
Senses- 100 Points
Energy sensory - 50 Points
Healing Expertise - 0 Points
Total: 1600 SP

• [Martial Art- Karate] {4}
• [Pain Tolerance] {3}
• [Martial Art-Jiujitsu] {3}
• [Analyzing] {2}
• Hakuda {3}
• Zanjutsu {2}
• Strength of Will {2}
• Battle Analysis {1}
Total: 21

SPOILER: Click to show

{Items equipped}
Class 1 Shock Gauntlets (squad 12 shop)
Chainmail vest

[Celes Castellanos]

As Celes delivered more and more strikes upon the SDS, she could feel it buckling somewhat beneath her onslaught. Slowly, but surely, cracks formed along the outer layer of the defenses. These cracks continued to spread with each impact. Even despite the vicious shockwaves and relentless barrage, the SDS would not fully give. Steam gently rose from her hands. She gritted her teeth. She had left one hell of a dent, but it wasn't enough. Before she had time to commit to yet another attempt, something suddenly felt off. The space near her began to contort and warp. Her skin and clothes felt like they were stretching ever so slightly. She did not understand what the hell was going on, but she was quite leery. Suddenly, the girl backed off a few dozen feet as a precaution.

Could this be the doing of this ship?", she questioned. Ultimately, it seemed that she'd have her answer. The space collapsed and tore open akin to a kumon. The thunderous boom that accompanied it disoriented the Captain for a brief moment due to her proximity. Through squinted eyes, however, she could make out two things. The rift expelled a man. His spiked, brown, anime-protagonist hair was instantly recognizable to the woman. His shihakushō added another notable identifier. It was Kaen! Accompanying him, however, was a... "hammer?", Celes questioned.

She didn't time to give it much thought as Kaen slammed into the barrier which she had just assaulted moments ago. It didn't do much to the integrity of the barrier, but that all changed once the hammer tinked against the barrier. Streaks of blue reiatsu traced the cracks before shattering the glass-like shell. The Shinigami couldn't help, but blink as she tried to process what the hell just happened. She quickly gave up the endeavor and just decided to roll with it. After all, it seemed that Kaen had joined the fight. "Hah, good to see you Celes. Kimiko. You both look like you're doing well!", Kaen remarked as Celes hastily approached. She blinked and turned her head to see Kimiko and her own Division crowding around as they prepared for the coming assault.

She gave Kaen a brief, albeit feeble, smile before turning her head to face the ship. As Kaen remarked on the cold, Celes trained her eyes on the outer wall. Squinting briefly, her eyes trailed up and up the castle to its peaks. If Hiyori was involved perhaps she'd find herself up there? The Captain wasn't entirely sure, but it was her best shot. She needed to talk to Hiyori. She needed to find out why. Given the earlier display of firepower, a beeline to the top could prove fatal. Not to mention any resistance she'd be sure to meet once up there. She took a deep breath and stared back at the wall.

Before anyone could even bring up a plan to proceed, Celes pivoted on her air-ground and spoke quietly, "I'm going in." Suddenly, she disappeared. Rushing forward as quickly as she could muster, the girl approached the outer wall at blazing speeds. Before she even knew it, Celes made landfall upon the calming, green fields that surrounded the great wall. Without a moment's hesitation, she continued to approach the outermost wall. From the look of it, the Captain would crash through violently. After all, she likely had the physical strength to accomplish it. Instead, however, the Shinigami chose the more discreet option. The path of least resistance, if you will.

Just before making contact with the wall, Celes vibrated her entire body at incredible speeds. If anyone watched her, they'd see her form vanishing into the wall itself. No loud crash or blemishes would mar it. Even despite the overall thickness of the wall, Celes pressed onward. It would be mere moments even though the wall was much thicker than she had anticipated. What would she find on the other side? That was yet to be seen, but Celes knew one thing for sure. She was ready to tear this entire place to the ground to find her sister! Even if it meant that she had to do it with her own bare hands!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Daikotsu}Technique Name: Daikotsu

Class: 2

Technique Type: Hakuda

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects: Shigekuni, the 33rd Captain Commander, had two well known impact techniques. Ikotsu and Sokotsu. They were both renowned as ridiculously powerful impact techniques. Unfortunately, he was the last known user of them both. These techniques have been lost in time. However, luckily, his friends and others of the time knew similar impact techniques.

Daikotsu is a personal invention of Kenpachi Shingai, who was never able to match Shigekuni in physical strength. Because of the strength deficit, Shigekuni was never able to teach Ikotsu or Sokotsu to Shingai. This resulted in the creation of the impact technique Daikotsu.

Daikotsu causes the user to vibrate their body at great speed. When this happens, the user actually gains the ability to go through defenses. The vibrations of the body allow the user to phase through even an enemy's blocking arms or sword. This can be done with sword or other weapon strikes as well, causing the weapon to vibrate through other weapons. This cannot vibrate through reiatsu based defenses, but can vibrate through physical structures, the equivalent of physical manifestation, and the enemy's body.

The possibilities are limitless. When this vibrates through an enemy, the user can suddenly stop vibrating, and thus have their arms impaled into an enemy. But the most applicable hit attack is that when this vibrating punch hits something, it adds the user's speed force into account. Therefore, the user's speed stat is thrown on top of the user's strength stat for the punch. This sends powerful force through the opponent's body. This does not bypass Hierro or cutback, but it is a lethal attack that can kill just about any properly hit enemy in one hit.

The end result of the technique is usually that their body is left vibrating as the force ruptures and obliterates the majority of their internal organs. The vibrations will shatter nearly all of the bones in their body, and more likely a large hole will erupt into the torso. The body will soon fall apart and be destroyed.

How to use technique: This is a very specialized technique. It requires a base speed of 1000 to work, and it also requires a 3 in Hakuda. It requires a minimum strength stat of 300 as well. To boot, if one wants to use this with a weapon, it requires at least 2 in that weapon's use. It requires a minimum physical age of 20. One must at least be in their prime to attempt this technique.

Drawback: It can tax stamina, sure, but really its drawback is a strain on the heart. The healthy heart may be able to use it several times, but less healthy specimens will find great pains in its use. The vibrations on the body consistently strain muscles and cause great damage to the heart if overused.

Made by: Kenpachi Shingai

Genius Stamina Posts: 1/8

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Firing as he did, Asmoskon watched as the arrows he’d unleashed upon the different crystals clashed against the figure of the ship. He could tell that he wasn’t the only one with power that was standing against the Vandenreich here in the moment. In fact there were quite a few present right now that were going to stop the Vandenreich from whatever their goal was here today. Asmoskon didn’t recognize anyone from view nor from what he could feel. All he knew was the sensation of Shinigami.

What he was able to tell from his vantage point though was the shield those green crystals surrounded the ship with was now down. He didn’t know if they’d be down for good as it didn’t look like his arrows had done enough to crack or even shatter the crystals. He didn’t hesitate though on thoughts of attacking them directly now since the ship was moving away from him. No this was his first real chance and if he could get on it now that meant he could slaughter all the Vandenreich onboard and save this cold city.

He had to get inside that first barrier zone right away, stepping off the ledge with Hirenkyaku Asmoskon traversed much of the distance right away. If all of the barriers had been brought down then he had no doubt he’d sacrifice some of his legs stability in order to cross the entire distance right away. Instead of resorting to one of his greatest accomplished techniques though he took his time utilizing one of his families trademarks. Reiatsu and blood pooling out from his back just between his shoulder blades. One moment in the air unmoving then the next massive crimson lizard wings breached out and began to carry him closer.

Asmoskon didn’t care if he had to shake off the side effects for the next couple minutes, his wings would allow him to cross the distance in a much easier way then running along the air or burning through his stamina by riding on Hirenkyaku. While he wasn’t in the best physical condition of his life he knew for sure he could reach the castle quite a lot faster with his wings now allowing him to soar like an eagle right at it. The moment he’d see an opening he’d approach while ready for whatever discount henchmen thinks they’re ready to eliminate the hunter.

Thats what his plan had been anyway, it didn’t take more than a few seconds for his aiming god eye to pick up on something so obvious. A doorway that had been hidden behind what he could only assume was part of the lower section that’d been damaged in the last attack. Part of him wanted to just keep soaring upwards in order to take over every single Vandenreich in the castle in order to show them all they were prey for him. Fighting off the arrogant part of himself though Asmoskon stayed low and flew to the opening knowing that much of his success against the old bastard came from planning not reckless power.

[Rozelyn H. Castellanos]

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Rozelyn slammed her fists together. Seemed that there truly wasn't any stopping this situation from getting any worse. As the lights flickered in the gym her and Caesar were in, she turned to the General. "Seems we've a bit of company!" She chuckled. While annoying, sure, this was going to prove fun if nothing else.

Hearing Anerin's call, Rozelyn couldn't help but smile ever larger. She knew the Seireitei's inner-workings quite well; especially after having spent as much time there as she had. It wasn't going to be too difficult to make assumptions about who would be sent to deal with such an excursion. The 11th's captain was almost guaranteed to be here, along with either the 3rd, 13th, or 10th. Whom that last one was felt like a toss-up, but ultimately she'd just have to wait and see.

Though, too much waiting wasn't going to be necessary.

As each of the intruders took the opportunity to hop aboard the ship, Rozelyn immediately began to bolt toward the intruders. Picking up on spiritual signatures in the process, Rozelyn had felt a few familiar signatures in the mix; namely, Kaen Youji, and her sister. Though, unlike her sister, the ex-Shinigami made no effort to spare the others of her approach. Slamming her shoulder into each metal wall that was before her, an explosive repositioning of steel screamed around her as she flew through wall after wall on physical prowess alone.

Though, one thing continued to remain in her mind, not quite allowing her to settle the thoughts of it all. She didn't have much of a choice on dealing with Celes, did she? Letting out a sigh, the girl shook her head. Surely she'd listen to reason. Surely there was something she could do to convince her to stand down. Lay down her arms, or something. Until that occurred however, it seemed that she was going to have to take time to deal with the other intruders. She was curious; aside from Kaen, just who were they?

SPOILER: Click to show

{Adjusted Stats, as Ryou let me utilize her updated goodies 'v'}
Type: Brave

Hiyori's Stats:

Strength: 400 [1,000]
Speed: 400 [700]
Reiatsu Strength: 100 [50]
Spiritual Pressure: 400 [200]
Instinct: 400
Senses: 100
Energy Sensory: 300
Healing Expertise: 0

Light Aura: 100 (0 in Vollstandig)
Dark Aura: 0 (100 in Vollstandig)
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Weapons - Katana: 4
Strength of Will: 3
Pain Tolerance: 3
Martial Arts - Angehen: 4